Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Rita and Sue Escaping Constraints of Class and Gender Backgrounds Movie Review
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Monday, October 28, 2019
Theatre HL Theatre Arts Research Investigation Essay Example for Free
Theatre HL Theatre Arts Research Investigation Essay Research Question: Which methods could a theatre company use while performing Jean Anouilhs Antigone, keeping true to and supporting the style of the Theatre of the Absurd? Theatre of the Absurd is a term that was coined by Hungarian-born theatre critic Martin Esslin, who made it the title of his 1962 book on the subject. It is refers to a particular style of theatre and the work of a number of mainly European playwrights, mostly written in the 1950s and 1960s. These plays are all related through the theme of the Absurd, first presented in this way by the French philosopher Albert Camus in his 1942 essay, â€Å"The Myth of Sisyphus†in which he deals with the meaninglessness and absurdity of the human existence and states the belief that life has no purpose. Subsequently he poses the question if the realization and acceptance of this fact must necessarily result in suicide. You can see a clear reflection of this thought in Esslins definition of the Theatre of the Absurd as that which â€Å"strives to express its sense of the senselessness of the human condition and the inadequacy of the rational approach by the open abandonment of rational devices and discursive thought.†The most well-know absurdist playwrights are Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco, Jean Genet, Harold Pinter and Arthur Adamov. It is believed that the uprising of this philosophical movement during this specific time period was triggered by the death, grief and pure misery brought upon the people by World War II, which demonstrated the total brevity of any values and emphasized the precariousness and arbitrariness of human life. The population of Europe had been experiencing terror, hunger and disease on such a traumatizing level of the trench warfare and the holocaust, that they lost all hope in humanity and faith in their god. Thats why this philosophy of meaninglessness developed because people failed to see any reason in life anymore. The psychic trauma of living under the threat of nuclear annihilation has probably also had a great effect on the development of this new form of theatre. Although World War II is thought to have been the catalyst for his movement there are a number of predecessors which are thought to have contributed to its development. Theatre of the Absurd is thought to have originated from the ancient Greece between 550 and 220 BCE from what was know as Old Comedy, particularly from playwrights such as Aristophanes. In Old Comedy there was a satirical treatment of domestic situations and myths on society, politics, literature and the Peloponnesian War that was happening between Athenian Empire and the Peloponnesian league, led by sparta. The Absurdist plays share many of these most important characteristics: extensive comedy, mixed with horrific or tragic images; unconventional dialogue full of clichà ©s, wordplay, and nonsense; characters caught in hopeless and illogical situations forced to do repetitive or meaningless actions; plots that are cyclical or absurdly expansive and either a parody or dismissal of realism, in attempt to reflect the absurdity of human existence. The aim of absurd plays is to startle, confuse and shock the viewer, waking him up from his boring and conventional life of everyday concerns. The Theatre of the Absurd was something completely new and rebellious to the viewers and was indeed, like some of the playwrights liked to call it, anti-theatre. It was surreal, illogical, conflictless and plotless. The dialogue was total baloney and seemingly without meaning. Unsurprisingly, it was first received with disapproval and lack of understanding. Jean Anouilhs play Antigone, originally produced in Paris in 1942, is a tragedy inspired by and adapted from the ancient greek classic Antigone by Sophocles which was first performed in Athens in the 5th century B.C. The changes he made to the plot, may seem slight in some cases, but create a very different work and theatrical experience with a new taste of political and moral criticism. The main difference is that in Anouilhs version, from the very beginning, a member of the chorus steps forward to perform the prologue, introducing the audience to the plot and the characters of the play. Anouilhs chorus has a very different purpose though than Sophocles had and is of vital significance for the play, ceating a detachment from the play at times in order to address the audience directly. At one point he indicates the difference between melodrama and tragedy, suggesting that Antigone be part of the latter, meaning that her fate is clear and unavoidable. Walter Ince, asks the following philosophical question with an absurd feeling, responding to Anouilhs tragedy: â€Å"If life evokes such complete hopelessness, where is the tragedy in leaving it?†. When performing this play while applying absurdist theatre techniques, we want to keep this feeling of hopelessness alive and demonstrate the absurdity of life. Anouilh has already created a slight absurd feeling making things easier already. His sophisticated distancing of the plot and constant reminder to the audience of the fact that they are merely watching actors in a play seems to me very absurd and â€Å"anti-theatrical†. I imagine this would confuse the viewer and alienate, maybe even irritate and annoy the viewer, as it definitely did in the time of the original performance. Additionally, applying some of the standard absurdist techniques such as having the characters repeat meaningless actions or make the situations seem hopeless absurd. Especially aspects from the play that already seem slightly absurd should be promoted, such as Queen Eurydice knitting until she goes to her room and dies or the three guards that play cards, completely oblivious to the tragedy enrolling before them. On that point, the director would have to decide if he wants to stay true to Anouilhs original text or if he wants to change the dialogues, in which case one could take the meaning out of conversations or insert nonsensical sentences, make the characters talk past each other, without completely losing the plot. The stage setting could be either overly surrealistic, further contributing to the audiences confusion or completely simplistic going as far as not having a setting at all, further emphasizing the anti-theatrical aspects and adding to the alienation of the viewer. Sources: Carlson, Marvin. 1993. Theories of the Theatre: A Historical and Critical Survey from the Greeks to the Present. Expanded ed. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press Ince, Walter. 1968. Forum for Modern Language Studies: Prologue and Chorus in Anouilhs Antigone IV, pp. 277 – 84 Freeman, Ted. 2000. Antigone: Commentary, Anouilhs Antigone. Methuen Drama Student Edition, London, Methuen Publishing
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Finding Mass Using The Inertial Balance :: essays research papers
Finding Mass Using the Inertial Balance Theory: Physics can be referred to as the study of various properties of matter and energy. Matter can best be described by looking at the mass of an object. Mass is the amount of material that is in an object. Mass can be found by using a spring scale, a balance scale, or an inertial balance. Inertia is the resistance by mass to any change in its state of motion. Scientific Law states that mass and inertial forces are directly proportional. The purpose of the inertial balance is to measure the different inertias between different masses therefore providing a mathematical and very accurate method of measuring mass. Experimentation showed that if a mass was put into some form of periodic motion, the mass could be measured fairly accurately by measuring the oscillation period and comparing it to a known mass period. The relationship m1=m2T12/T22 was discovered. Objective: After completing the experiment, we will be able to find the mass of objects using an inertial balance and compare them to accepted measures. Materials: C-clamps, inertial scale, a watch with a second hand, and a triple beam balance. Procedure: 1) The class will measure the period of oscillation of their balance pans when they are empty. The accepted period will be the average of the class. To find the period, you will measure the amount of time it takes for your balance to complete 20 oscillations. The period (T) will be computed by taking your time and dividing it by 20. This will be recorded as T2. 2) You will then measure the mass of your empty pan (including all screws) and record this as m2. 3)     You will then measure the mass of one c-clamp. Record this as m1 accepted. 4)     Using the inertial balance, find the time it would take for 20 oscillations of the c-clamp (which should be attached to the empty pan). Divide your time by 20 and record this as T1. 5)     Find the experimental mass of both the c-clamp and the empty pan by using the formula from page one. Record this as mtotal. 6)     Find the difference between the mtotal and m2 and record this as m1experimental. 7)     In a utopian world, m1 experimental should equal m1 accepted. 8)     Find your percent error by using the following formula: % Error = (accepted-experimental) / accepted 9)     Repeat using varying amounts of c-clamps for up to three trials. Data: Trial #     T2     M2     M1 accepted     T1     Mtotal     M1 experimental 1     .2     67.9     122.9     .3     152     84.1 2     .2     67.9     248.4     .35     207.9     140 3     .2     67.9     382     .45     393.74     275.84 M1 accepted     M1 experimental     % Error 122.9     84.1     31.6% 248.4     140     43.6% 382     275.48     27.88% Calculations: See last page.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Separation of Powers in the Uk
This essay will seek to analyse the doctrine of the separation of powers and the importance of its presence within a constitution. Particular emphasis will be placed on identifying how this idea is incorporated into the United Kingdom’s (UK) constitution and the effect that recent developments of constitutional reform such as the introduction of the UK Supreme Court in place of the House of Lords has had. The doctrine of the separation of powers is an idea that can be seen in writings as far back as the time of Aristotle. This concept states that any constitution relies on the ‘three pillars of state’ which are the executive, legislative and judiciary. Montesquieu formulated this concept in the eighteenth century and in ‘L’Esprit des Lois’ wrote; â€Å"All would be lost if the same man or the same body of principle of men, either of nobles, or of the people, exercised these three powers: that of making laws, that of executing public resolutions, and that of judging the crimes or the disputes of individuals. Montesquieu’s writing sums up the idea that if in any constitution at one time, more than one of these powers are controlled by the same ‘man’ or ‘body of men’ then the power instigated becomes arbitrary and to effect a dictatorship. These three powers can be seen within the UK’s constitution, the Government (executive), Parliament (legislature) and the Courts (judiciary). The UK has been criticised suggesting that there is n o separation of powers within our constitution due to its un-codified and thus unclear nature making it hard to establish three independent bodies. This was the case for a number of reasons; firstly within the UK there are overlaps between the so called ‘powers of state’ an example of this is the set-up of government. Members of the Prime Ministers Cabinet are also Members of Parliament who have executive powers aside being able to vote in parliament, that in turn creates a direct overlap between executive and legislative powers. This can be seen as recently as this year with members of the Cabinet like Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg having executive powers whilst being able to vote in Parliament on the Tuition Fees Bill 2010. The courts also appear to exercise legislative functions along with their judicial roles through means of the common law. Judges for years have been creating and changing laws as they see fit and still to this day have the power to make binding precedents. However, the position of Lord Chancellor was regularly criticised as it held presence in all three of the ‘pillars of state’. It would appear from this that indeed the United Kingdom does not exercise the concept of separation of powers. In February 2004 the House of Lords introduced what was eventually to be The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 . This act looked to tackle two of the perceived main criticisms of the UK constitution namely the role of Lord Chancellor and to bring in a Supreme Court to take over the role of the appellate committee of the House of Lords in the judiciary as prior to this members of the House of Lords were members of both the legislature and the judiciary. The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom was thereby opened in 2009 however; it would appear questionable as to whether it has really brought around a separation of powers. If a logical approach is taken then this introduction of a new chamber has made a big change to the constitution as no longer would it be possible for law lords to sit in the judiciary and vote in parliament however, if we take an alternative view then the Supreme Court has not really changed anything within the UK’s constitution. Due to the unwritten format of our constitution it is known that many laws and procedures that countries such as the USA (who possess a written constitution) have backed up by the documented constitution itself, we very much rely on the role of convention, habit and tradition to hold the three powers in check. It has very much been convention that from before 2006 the law lords that sit in the appellate committee of the House of Lords refrain from sitting in political matters whereas; members of the Lords who exercise political functions do not participate with any matters of the judiciary. True, the introduction of the Supreme Court has made it impossible for the legislative and judicial powers to be fused as members appointed within the Supreme Court will no longer be members of the House of Lords thus making this house of Parliament solely legislative. Perhaps a more important development is that future members of the Supreme Court need not even be peers which could in time sever any link between the two chambers. The act also placed restraints on the role of the Lord Chancellor that have met the same feeling as that of the Supreme Court, whilst yes these changes are positive, the question remains were they necessary? The introduction of the UK Supreme Court is a positive step to incorporate not only more written sources to the constitution but towards properly establishing a separation of powers within the UK. However, it can be suggested that a more appropriate step to chieving this goal would be to approach different issues and ones that don’t have constraints such as being governed by convention, that continue to work against any positive steps taken to establish a separation of powers within the state. The fact that Cabinet members can vote in parliament is a direct overlap between two of the powers and maybe reform of this area should be considered as well. Perhaps the whole set up of our countries elective system is in need of reform as any party that commands a majority could effectively pass any bill they like without opposition. Tony Blair as the head of the Labour government in 1997 enjoyed such domination of parliament. The use of the Royal Prerogative has been described as ‘unconstitutional’ and came under scrutiny when Tony Blair supported the USA in the Iraq War and sent British soldiers to war. These majority governments have been described as ‘elective dictatorships’, and these are but a few examples of many things that work against our country ever having a true and complete separation of powers. The establishment of the Supreme Court in October 2009 and the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 appears to have sparked willingness for change. This could be seen in the 2010 General Election where clear emphasis was placed on constitutional reform by each major party, to mention but one is the Liberal Democrats pledge to attempt to remove the first past the post voting system to be replaced by proportional representation. The Con-Lib coalition government of 2010 has recently created a five year fixed term parliament which places the next general election on the first Thursday of May 2015. These are all changes that will eventually contribute to creating a separation of powers and to positively change the constitution. It can be seen from this that the introduction of the new Supreme Court has made a big step towards bringing about a true separation of powers in the UK. Regardless of the conventions that the House of Lords and appellate committee followed, the Supreme Court has severed any link between the judiciary and parliament. This is particularly important in present times as the rise in claims of judicial review require a completely impartial court in order to enable the judiciary to keep check of the legislative and executive branches of state and to uphold constitutional justice. It is also clear that there is at best a partial separation of power in the UK which is important to retain but it could not be said that we have incorporated this concept wholly and much more will be done over time to establish a more stable constitution for future governments. Constitutional reform in itself is not a simple task and examples of this can be seen in countries such as Bosnia who are currently struggling with reformations, which really does highlight the enormity of creating a Supreme Court and re-identifying the judicial branch of the UK. Whilst there is currently only a partial separation of powers in the UK for now, this may be starting to change. 1491 Words. Bibliography †¢Neil Parpworth, Constitutional & Administrative Law (6th Edition, Oxford University Press, 2010). †¢Anthony King, The British Constitution (Oxford University Press, 2007). †¢Jeffrey Jowell and Dawn Oliver, The Changing Constitution (6th Edition, Oxford University Press, 2007). †¢Vernon Bogdanor, The New British Constitution (Hart Publishing, 2009). †¢http://www. energyobserver. com/tekst-e. php? lang=2&ID=1072 accessed 07/01/2011 14:07. †¢ accessed 07/01/2011 15:36.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Descriptive Statistics Essay
In research, the need to accurately produce results is imperative to efficient research. Team C’s hypothesis of what generates champion teams needs many tools provided in research to achieve a true answer. Team C has further simplified the meaning of champion team to any team whose team dynamics cause the team to have a winning season. With that being said, this paper will be focused on the research tools needed and the results provided by the tools to answer what stats are important for teams in the MLB to win games and eventually be champions. Measures of Central Tendencies Even when dealing with enormous sets of data it is important to get an idea by looking at the measures of central tendency. The first three that will be looked at are mean, median, and mode. Mean is â€Å"a measure of central tendency that offers a general picture of data without inundating one with each of the observations in a data set†(Sekaran, p. 396, para 3). A more common term for mean is average. The median is â€Å"the central item in a group of observations when they are arrayed in ascending or descending order†(Sekaran, p. 396, para 5). Mode is the â€Å"most frequently occurring phenomenon†(Sekaran, 396, para 6). The following table shows the mean, median, and mode for the four sets of data that Team C will be researching: Wins, Salary, Total Season Attendance, and Team Earned Run Average. Although the chart has shown detailed information, the need for dispersion will aid in achieving more precise data collection. Dispersion Dispersion is a critical part of statistics because of the accuracy factor. In team C’s hypothesis, the stats the team are searching for are the stats that generate wins for a Major League Baseball team. In dispersion, four subsets can help develop a more accurate picture of Team C’s hypothesis. The four are range, average deviation, variance, and standard deviation. The four tools of dispersion help to paint a clear picture of how the four identified stats help develop winning teams. Measure skewness will help to make sure the data collected is uniform. Measure of Skew Skewness is a measure of symmetry, or more precisely, the lack of symmetry. A distribution, or data set, is symmetric if it looks the same to the left and right of the center point (NIST/SEMATECK, 2010). The skewness for a normal distribution is zero, and any symmetric data should have skewness near zero. Negative values for the skewness indicate data skewed left and positive values for the skewness indicate data skewed right. Skewed left is defined as the left tail is long in comparison to the right tail on the histogram. Skewed right is defined as the right tail is long in comparison to the left tail histogram. Wins Team C’s research demonstrates a champion Major League Baseball team success is a result of the number of wins, salary of players, season attendance, and the team’s earned run average. The average wins for 30 teams, or the mean is 81, whereas the median is equal to the mean at 81 wins. The mode or most recurring number of wins is 95. The skewness of the applied wins data results in a negative number, resulting in a negative or data skewed to the left. In this case the variance is so minimal that the histogram for wins would look symmetrical rather than negatively skewed. Salary The salary of a Major League player can be closely tied to the quality and quantity of the player’s ability and results. The team salary mean is $73,063,563 and the median is $66,191,417. The skewness for this data is a 2.17, positively skewed to the right which means that the mean exceeds the median. This dramatic difference in data is a result of the variation in the highest team salary compared to the mean. The mean is $73,063,563 and there are extremes in excess of 200 million dollars for a team salary pulling the mean in excess of the median. Attendance Attendance in a Major League game directly impacts the budget and ability to pay higher salaries for better players. The data researched shows a mean of 2.4 million and a median of 2.5 million. The skewness is displayed as positively skewed or skewed to the right. The variance is very minimal resulting in a symmetrical histogram. The slight pull to the right is a result of increased attendance at 3.5 to 4 million at a handful of stadiums. Team ERA Measurement of Central Tendency and Dispersion of Data Mean, median and mode are used to measure central tendency and the dispersion of data. â€Å"In general, the mean is the descriptive statistic most often used to describe the central tendency of a group of measurements.†(Science Buddies, 2010) However, the mean is not always the best measure of central tendency and dispersion when there is a presence of extreme values in the data. â€Å"Of the three measures, it is the most sensitive measurement, because its value always reflects the contributions of each of the data values in the group. The median and the mode are less sensitive to â€Å"outliers†â€â€data values at the extremes of a group.†(Science Buddies, 2010) The mode measures the highest recorded frequencies of data measures, and it helps to determine where most of the data lies. The mode is very useful when the data is overly skewed. The median helps to determine the quartile range and the skew of the data. The median is not affected much by the sma ll proportion of the data with very high or very low values. The median is a good measure of the central tendency and dispersion of the data when considering what makes a Major League Baseball team successful team. After reviewing all data collected, Team C has derived that the combination of these stats gives the solution for the hypothesis posed. Solution After extensive research, Team C has discovered that the factors the team focused on do have an effect on the wins for a Major League Baseball team. In the case of attendance, a successful team needs a minimum of 2.4 million fans to be able to pay quality players. In addition, this high fan base can help generate the 73 million needed to pay quality players and operate the team. These quality players need to provide a minimum of 4.28 for the ERA. Although this stat is based on a pitcher, the team as a whole has to be good enough to aid the pitcher in this goal. If the teams can achieve this goal, their average wins would be well over 81 wins for the season. This is a winning season, and eventually, as numerous teams that have fallen into these categories have shown, the championship could be the reward. Conclusion A team that plays smart and efficient will win games and championships. The number of wins, salaries, attendance, and earned run average (ERA) contribute to this success. ERA is the average number of runs allowed by the pitcher. The lower number of runs the better. The ERA stats tell us that the most number of wins by a team is 95. The overall team salaries indicate that the player salaries are indicative of player quality, ability, and results thereof. The attendance of the fans and public plays a major role in the success of the team. The monies generated from attendance make it possible for owners and management to hire quality talent. Owners and management must be consistent when hiring and managing the players. Team C has concluded through its research that these are the major factors for winning games and championships. References NIST/SEMATECH. (2010). e-Handbook of Statistical Methods, retrieved from http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook eda/section3/eda35b.htm. Science Buddies. (2010). Summarizing Your Data. Retrieved from http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair- projects/project_data_analysis_summarizing_data.shtml Sekaran, U. (2003). Research Methods For Business: A Skill Building Approach. (4th ed.). John Wiley & Son, Inc. New York, NY. *Histogram and other charts located on attached Excel Spreadsheet*
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